Coupling attachment.



R. 0L HILTON. COUPLIN G ATTAGHMEN T. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, 1907.

Y 906,135., Patented Dec. 8, 1.903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

R. C. HILTON. GOUPLING ATTAGHMEN T. APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 16,1907.

Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE,

ROLAND C. HILTON, OF QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

HILTON COUPLING COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

COUPLING ATTACHMENT.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

Application filed September 16, 1907. Serial No. 393,052.

To allfwhom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROLAND C. HILTON, a

-citizen of the United States, residing at Quincy, county of Norfolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented anv Improvement in Coupling Attachments, of which the following description, in connection with thel for one of its objects to provide a novel attachment which can be used with an ordinary coupling thereby to convert it into one which may be coupled simply by a longitudinal movement of the'members relative to each other, thus avoidingl the necessity. of screwing the two members of the coupling together; and for another object to provide a novel quick-acting coupling which Vhas such a construction that when the two members are coupled together any tendency to separate the coupling members will tend to more securely lock them together.

Couplings for hose and pipes as now commonly made comprise a male and a female member, the. male member having exterior screw-threads to screw into the interior screw threads of the female member; and the coupling together of the two members thus made requires more or less time dependent upon the timel taken to screw said members together. It is also customary to provide for connecting lire hose to hydrants by 'making the hydrant with a male or eX- teriorly screw threaded member which is adapted to screw into the female member of the coupling; and to' provide for coupling nozzles to fire hose by providing the nozzle with a screw threaded male member which is adapted to screw into the female member of a couplinoF on the hose.

The act of coupling-the hose tothe hydrant, or of coupling a nozzle to a hose, involves the screwing of the male member into the female member, and in the hurry and confusion of the moment at a lire the threads are very apt to become jammed so as to make the coupling of the two parts together a' rather diicult and tedious operation.

By means of my invention it is possible to pipes, hydrants, nozzles, etc., into couplings which can be instantly coupled together. v

It has been heretofore proposed to construct a coupling so that the two parts thereof can be coupled by a longitudinal movement of one with reference to the other and without the necessity of screw-threading one on to the other, but so far as I- am aware all previous attempts to make a coupling in this way have resulted in-a coupling in which either one or bothof the members thereof have been especially constructed and in order to get the benefit of a coupling of this character, therefore, it has heretofore been necessary to discard entirely the old couplings now in use by fire departments on their hose, and in other relations, and to substitute therefore entirely new couplings. This obviously involves a considerable expense.

As stated above one object of my invention is to provide a novel attachment nwhich.

-of turning one on the other, and in the embodiment of my invention herein shown I accomplish this object by providing a novel attachment which is arranged to be screwthreaded to either the male or the female member of the coupling and to be permanently carried thereby, which attachment has a plurality-of radially-yielding screwthreaded sections or blocks adapted to engage the screw threads of the other meniber, the manner of mounting these screwthreaded sectionspermitting the coupling to be united by a longitudinal movement of the members.

The other object of my invention, as stated above, is to provide two quick-acting coupling members of such a construction that when they are coupled together by a relative movement between them longitudinally thereof` any straintending to' separate the coupling will result only in causing the yielding'ly-mounted screw threaded blocks to be pressedharder against the screw-threads with which' they engage. This object is acwalls, the inclination ofthe walls being such` that the pressure of the blocks against said l ment showing the manner ofvholding the screw-threaded sections therein; Fig. 4 is a view of one of Fig. 5 illustrates my invention as applied to couplinga nozzle to a fire hose.

In the drawings 3 and 4 designate the male and female members of an ordinary coupling, the male member having the eXterior screw-threaded portion 5 ada ted to screw into the interiorly-.screw-threa ed p0rtion 6 of the female member. The screw threads 6 of the female member are formed on the swivel ring 7 which is swiveled tothe male memberdn any suitable way. As one `convenient way of thus swiveling the 'ring 7 to the member V4, I have shown both the ring and the member as provided with alined grooves 8, 9 within which isv received the split ring 10, said ring serving'to hold the two parts together and yet permitting the ring 7 to be turned on the member 4.

The parts thus far described constitute the familiar parts of an ordinary coupling, such as is commonly used on fire hose, garden hose and for connecting pipes and conduits generally.

To connect a couplin thus constructed involves the screwing o the ring 7 on to the ortion 5 and this obviously requires considerable time. For converting this vform of coupling into a quick-acting coupling, I

have provided the attachment which. isV permanently secured to either the male or the female member ofthe coupling and which f is capable of being quickly coupled to the 'female member of the coupling. The attach- 'i other member. In the present embodiment said attachment, which 1s designated generally by 11, is shown as screw-threaded tothe ment comprises the exteriorly screw-threaded portion 12 adaptedto be screwed into the ring`7, as shown,land the portion 13 adapted to be coupled to the eXteriorly screw-,threaded l portion 5 of the male member of the coup- Y threads on its inner face, which screw threads ling. The portion 13 of the attachment carries a plurality of radiallyyieldin blocks .14 each of which is provi ed wit screw are adapted to engage the screw threads of the male 'member 3. These blocks 14 may have any suitable shape or conguration, and any desired number of them may be emthe sections removed; and

that when the two ployed. I have shown several suchiblocks leach of which is substantially circularin springs which normally tend to force them inwardly. The apertures 15 are substantially circular in cross section to lity the cylindrical blocksl and preferably will be formed at an angle or inclination, as best seen in Fig. 1, so that the walls 16 and 17 thereof incline with relation to the longitudinal axis of the coupling.

While any suitable yielding backing for the blocks may be employed, I propose to use one or more coiled springs 18 which extend around the member 13 'and engage the back sides of the blocks 14. These springs form a very convenient resilient backing which permits any or all of the blocks to be moved radially as required.

In makingthe device the attachment 11 mayA have a circumferential` groove 20 in which the springs 18 are received, said groove intersecting the apertures 15 `in which the blocks 14 are received, as plainly seen in Fig. 3. For covering said springs and the groove 20 I have shownla ring 21 which surrounds the groove and which is frictionally held in place or which may be permanently secured to the attachment by screws or other means afterr the parts have been assembled.

In converting an ordinary coupling into a quick-acting one, it is simply necessary to screw thread my improved attachment 11 to the female `member of the coupling, `as

shown in F ig. 1, and after this is done the male member may be coupled to the female member merely by moving the male member longitudinally of the attachment, for it will be obvious that during such longitudinal movement the blocks 14 will yield outwardly to permit the connection to be made. After the parts have been thus coupled, the coupling may be tightened by turning the ring 7 with the attachment slightly if such action is necessary. i

It will be noted that the walls 16, 17, of the apertures 15 are inclined relative to the longitudinal axis of the coupling, and also spo that the block 14v is made with inclined sides that fit against the inclined walls 16, 17.

The object of making the apertures and the block 14 with inclined walls is to pro- 'vide a construction which will prevent the two members 3 and 11 from being readily pulled apart after theyv have been coupled. With the construction shown it will be seen parts 3 vand 11 are coupled together the forcing of the threaded portion 5 into the ring 1 3 results in crowding 'the blocks 14outwardly against the action of the spring 18. After the parts are coupled any tendency to *withdraw the member 3 will Y force the blocks 14 against the inclined wall blocks 14 and apertures 15 have the shapes shown, for said blocks might have any desired shape without departing from the invention provided they were yieldingly mounted, and provided they had inclined faces to fit the inclined walls v16, 17 ,eof the apertures receivingthem.

For some reasons I prefer the shape shown in the drawings because said blocks-14 can be made from #a round rod which is cut diagonally to give the shape bf block shown,

and the apertures 15 may be made by drilling into the member 11 at an inclination.

Where the blocks 14 are of the shape shown it is desirable to have some means for preventing their turning in the apertures 15,

and to hold themin proper position I have provided each with the laterally extending lugs 25 which engage the side walls of the groove -20as seen in Fig. 3. Furthermore,

' each block` is shown as provided with a groove 23 inwhich the'sprlngs 18 are re- From the above it will be seen that with mynimproved attachment any ordinary coupling can be converted into a quick-acting one. It will also be seen that the quick-acting feature of the coupling is of such a eonstructionthat after the parts are coupled toc-A gether any. strain tending to separate the coupling parts will only `tend to cause the v screw-threaded blocks 14to more firmly grip the member 3. n

My invention is not limited to the coupling of hose together as obviously it may be used in uconnection with couplings for connecting hose to hydrants, fire engines, andy to other stationary devices, and may also be used in connection with any Lcouplings for connecting ahy two elements together.

My invention is especially applicable however for coupling nozzles to fire hose, as shown in Fig. 5, wherein 41 designates a lportion of fire hose having a female coupthus much valuable time may be saved at a The feature of my invention which relates to making the walls of the aperture 15 inclined so that'the two members coupled together will be held in their coupled condition in spite of any strain tending to separate them may be applied to other devices than the special attachment herein shown.

`I have not attempted to show herein all forms of my invention but have illustrated tle invention by showing the preferred form o y. v

- Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. An attachment for couplings presenting at one end an exteriorly screw -threaded member and at the other end a plurality of inclined .radially-extending recesses, and blocks fitting said recesses and provided on their inner faces with screw-threads.

.2. An attachment for couplings present'- ing at one end an exteriorly screw-threaded portion and at the'other end a plurality 0f` inclined radially-extending recesses, blocks in sald' recesses provided with screw-threads on thelr inner faces, and an endless coiled .spring encircling the attachment and engaging the back sides of the blocks.

3. In a coupling, the combination with a male member provided with exterior screw threads, of a female member having an interior recess inclined with relation to the axis of the coupling, and a block fitting said recess yieldingly mounted therein and provided with screw threads to engage those on the male member.

v 4. In a coupling, the combination with a male and a female member, one of said members having a recess, of a block yieldingly carried in said recess and sustained for movement outwardly in a direction inclined to the axis of the coupling, said block having screw threads Jto engage the screw threads on the' other member.

5. In a couplingfthe combination with a male member provided with exterior screw threads, of a female member having an interior recess provided on opposite sides with walls inclined in the same direction, and a two subscribing witnesses. y

ROLAND C. HILTON,

Witnesses:`

LoUIs C. SMITH, MARGARET A. DUNN. 

